Poll: Would you eat in vitro meat?

[MHR]

Great, maybe I can stop being a damn vegetarian and get me some buffalo bites

Oh LAWDY how I want me some buffalo chicken bites.

 

[Strazdas]

Yes, even if it does not taste as good. Id rather spare the animal slaughter and eat grown meat as long as it is not poisonous or something like that of course. im not a vegan or anything, i eat meat almost every day, but if i HAD A CHOICE, i would chose the one where animals dont have to suffer.

 

[Bestival]

Yeah I would eat it, but I would always be worried shit will turn out like in that manga 'Biomeat'


http://myanimelist.net/manga.php?id=4068

 

[CriticalMiss]

I'd probably taste it at least once, though I'd rather have the real thing even if it means paying more or having it less often. As others have said, lots of meat-ness comes from it being lived in. Bacon wouldn't taste the same unless the vat it is grown is rolled around in mud and oinks occasionally.

But I doubt it will become a big thing. Mainly because of how much of a shitstorm people start over GM foods, imagine what they will think when the entire product is lab-produced! The angry mothers will be angry because noone is thinking of the children, the angry religionists will be angry because someone is playing Dog and PETA will be angry because they won't be able to protest about it being cruel to animals. It could be used to make 'packing' meat to add in to processed foods, but that already happens with the less desirable bits of animals that are already being butchered. I'm not sure that it would be financially better unless someone pours lots of money in to it and plays the long game.

 

[DazBurger]

For sure! Unless its like Coke Zero is to regular Coke.

Commercial: "You cant taste the difference!"

Me: "Yes! Yes I can! And your substitute-product makes me ill!"

 

[Aramis Night]

Yes, please let it be that way! The alternative would be either bugs, which is still okay, but the third option would be to produce meat from our feces salvaged from the sewage.

I prefer the option of our own excess live young. Seems like a better option than eating our own excrement or bugs.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I eat meat, but I already dislike the idea of processed meat. I don't want lab grown meat either. Why? I think it has something to do with it being unnatural, and very unhealthy.
Sketchy, and yes I do prefer to slay my beasts and eat them. Its natural, and natural trumps man-made.

 

[SecondPrize]

Doesn't matter whether you would or not. You will wind up doing it anyways if you eat any meat. If we're lucky enough as consumers to get protections so purveyors of lab meat have to identify it as such on packaging, it'll have enough loopholes or get watered down soon enough that you won't know when you're eating it.

 

[BOOM headshot65]

Most likely not. It may taste the same and be cheaper, but it would just feel like treason to me since I live in the middle of Beef Country, Midwest, thus I see these people all the time and know that I will be hurting them if I dont eat thier cattle.

 

[synobal]

I'd eat it. Mostly because ya it's awesome, maybe in the future all meat will be grown this way.

 

[lunavixen]

From a culinary standpoint though - different cuts of meat taste the way they do because of where on the animal the meat came from and what purpose it served. It's the difference between dark and white meat, flank steak and tenderloin, veal and beef etc. If they grow the meat in a lab, and it's never used for anything, would it taste the same as if it were on a live, raised animal?

You have a point here. I think in-vitro meat will probably be useful in the processed meat (ground beef, sausages, spam...) sector, at first at least, since they depend more on added flavouring and less on structure. Fat can of course be added (and possibly created) separately, so that's not a real problem either.

Both of these present good arguments.

I personally think if it has the same taste and nutritional value as the stuff that comes from real animals, i don't think i'd have a problem with it at all, that being said, the tube grown meat would more likely end up being for cheaper cuts and you'd still have to pay more to get the genuine article of good cuts; like scotch fillet. =D

 

[Mr.Squishy]

If it'll get the vegetarians and vegans to stop complaining, and it tastes alright and isn't harmful, then hell, why not?

 

[Sam Warrior]

From a culinary standpoint though - different cuts of meat taste the way they do because of where on the animal the meat came from and what purpose it served. It's the difference between dark and white meat, flank steak and tenderloin, veal and beef etc. If they grow the meat in a lab, and it's never used for anything, would it taste the same as if it were on a live, raised animal?

You have a point here. I think in-vitro meat will probably be useful in the processed meat (ground beef, sausages, spam...) sector, at first at least, since they depend more on added flavouring and less on structure. Fat can of course be added (and possibly created) separately, so that's not a real problem either.

Adding a biologists opinion, in vitro meat could in theory be grown to simulate any part of the animal, the tricky part would be getting the muscle to age with use as it does in the animal. You could have lamb chops and ribs but not mutton as far as I can see.

As far as I'm concerned though if we can produce meat in a cheaper less resource intensive way then I'd definitely be eating it, provided it tasted the same.

 

[Playful Pony]

Easy... One can't actually morally defend eating animals, so if you can grow meat... Why not? That sounds awesome!

 

[zumbledum]

ill certainly try it , if its cheaper and tastier ill swap to it, not that i think its likely. but my principles say its bad, vegetarians are nearly as bad as religious people to me and if fake meat becomes a thing thats a lot of dead / never living animals as a cost

 

[Scarim Coral]

As Moviebob mention in one of his early The Big Picture shows, genetic engineer food are perfectly fine so I would give it a go.

 

[pillywiggins]

I think it's a little odd that the only yes-option in the poll only has taste as a requirement when there are a lot more questions surrounding the whole issue that we still have very little idea about.

One would hope to think that things like nutritious value, economical viability of this as of yet non-existent industry and its impact on world-hunger and the incredible amount of damage to the environment that's caused by the modern day meat industry would weigh just a little bit more than "does it taste as good?".

I would happily eat nothing but the generic nutrition-paste that you see in sc-fi all the time if that was a sustainable way to feed all the people in the world.

 

[JoJo]

Yes, please let it be that way! The alternative would be either bugs, which is still okay, but the third option would be to produce meat from our feces salvaged from the sewage.

I prefer the option of our own excess live young. Seems like a better option than eating our own excrement or bugs.

We don't have excess live young, at-least not in the west, with our falling birth rates we need every baby we can get!

OT: No real problems with vitro meat, as long as it tastes good and is cost-effective. Hell, they could grow meat from animals that aren't usually farmed for environmental, traditional or economic reasons... who's up for Elephant burger?

 

[Beffudled Sheep_v1legacy]

Yes. I'm not much of a food snob and I'm all for SCIENCE! improving the availability/quality of food so I see no reason not to.
Way I see it, as long as it tastes good and won't give me horrendous diseases it ia great
Also price. Price is important.